Browsing: Maritime operations

Reporting from the fourth annual Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium and Expo … Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Stebbins, executive officer of EOD Mobile Unit 6, is giving the EOD scoop. He is a mustang with a wealth of knowledge in gunnery, parachute ops and all things that go boom. And he brings a remarkable and commendable report of EOD operations in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom for 2009. These sailors and officers: Conducted 6,125 combat missions Conducted 916 direct-action missions with Special Operations Forces Neutralized 1,306 improvised explosive devices Removed 336,000 pounds of explosives from the battlefield Were awarded six Purple…

True to the nature of the sailors and officers who comprise the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the fourth annual Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium and Expo opened Tuesday morning in Virginia Beach with the announcement that two key speakers would be absent. They had been called away to meet emerging tasks – but two replacements were prepped and ready before attendees ever knew there was an issue. Discussions were somewhat bitter sweet. While speakers noted how current operations in the war zone and humanitarian missions such as the one in Haiti have validated the need for NECC, there remained an undercurrent…

It’s no secret the naval fleet has more gaps than O.J.’s alibi. The Navy is lacking surface vessels, especially amphibs. Submarine and aviation gaps are on the horizon. Even the carrier fleet will drop below requirements for at least three years beginning in 2012. Adding the crushing blow on this already sizable dog pile is the fact that SSBN(X) will cost $80 billion — which the Navy doesn’t have. Unless Congress coughs up the cash, the shipbuilding budget will be cut by half for a whopping 14 years. Ouch. Since it’s very unlikely the Navy will get everything it needs,…

If it seems like U.S. ship builders are spitting out subs at breakneck speed, it is with good reason. They are. Lawmakers put the Navy on a 60-month construction span by the end of the Block II contract, which calls for two $2 billion submarines each year starting in 2011. Basically, they want subs better and cheaper … and delivered yesterday. India seems to be taking a slightly different approach. The country is planning a 10-year lease of a Russian nuke, the Nerpa. Not sure if that lease has an option to buy. For the crew’s sake, I hope not.…

Looks like the Navy has coined a new term. I heard it for the first time a couple of months ago when I was out on the Truman and talking to Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, the strike group’s commander. He was explaining how they would remain ready despite a six-month gap between the JTFX and an actual deployment. Driscoll said the strike group would probably go out for another large-scale excersise. “The Navy loves acronyms, so we’ll probably call it ‘sustain-ex’ or something like that,” Driscoll said casually. Looks like that term Driscoll was trying out has been formalized. A…

The Drug Buster could be a moniker for the San Diego-based frigate McClusky, which has nearly cornered the market among the gray hulled fleet over the years during deployments while cruising off the coasts of South and Central America. The ship’s crew is preparing to depart for yet another counter-drug deployment on Oct. 5, taking along some SH-60B Seahawk helicopters and a law enforcement team from the Coast Guard, who largely lead the take-down, chase-down, maritime interdiction missions at sea. The “Mighty Mac” has collected its share of drug busts when it heads to sea on such deployments to support…